San Antonio Spurs (8-1) @ Toronto Raptors (4-6) Sunday 17th November 1.00 Eastern Time Toronto Previous Game Spurs 92 @ Celtics 84 Sonics 101 @ Raptors 94 Streaks Spurs: Won 8 Raptors: lost 6 Head Coaches vs. Greg Popovich/Sam Mitchell Probable Starters vs. Tony Parker/Rafer Alston vs. Manu Ginobili/Vince Carter vs. Bruce Bowen/Jalen Rose vs. Tim Duncan/Chris Bosh vs. Rasho Nesterovic/Loren Woods 6th Men vs. Brent Barry/Donyell Marshall Players to Watch vs. Manu Ginobili/Vince Carter Injury Lists Detroit Pistons Linton Johnson III Sean Marks Romain Sato Toronto Raptors Alvin Williams Keys to the Game <u>San Antonio Spurs:</u> <ul> [*]Guard Vince Carter the Raptors best player and will need to be contained by Bowen) [*]Don't turn the ball over, don't allow any wasy fast break points. Thats the only real way Toronto can get easy points against this defense [*]Dominate the boards and get the ball moving on offense [*]Get good bench scoring, Brent Barry will be an important player off the S.A bench. He is a contender for 6th man of the year and his abilty to hit the open three will be a key to the game [*]Get the ball to Tim Duncan, thats all that matters. Duncan needs to get Chris Bosh into foul trouble and abuse him inside. [/list] <u>Toronto Raptors:</u> <ul> [*]Guard Parker and Manu inside and outside. They are the main go two scorers for this team and If you can shut them down you will have a good chance at victory. Letting these guys get into the lane is a big mistake [*]Get as many fastbreak buckets as you can. There's no easy way of scoring on the Spurs so getting on the break and not allowing their defense to set up is key [*]Get Bosh the ball and attack the big Spurs frontline, obvsiously they will need to get Duncan into foul trouble for them to have a great chance today. [*]Vince Carter must get it going early otherwise the Raptors will really struggle and with a defender like Bruce Bowen on him, It certainly won't be easy[/list] Game Thoughts After starting the season 4-0 the Toronto Raptors have lost their last 6 games to fall to below 500. The west coast road trip wasn't exactly very friendly to them. The Spurs on the other hand are enjoying a 8 game winning streak, with the only loss coming at the NBA's hottest team the Seattle SuperSonics who are off to a great start with a 9-1 record and have the best overall record in the NBA. The Spurs are coming off a 92-84 win @ Boston where they trailed after 3 quarters but still managed to get the win, Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 26 but for the first time in quite a while did not get double fiqure rebounding. This game will be an early start for San Antonio, they should be ready though. They come into the air canada center red hot and I fully expect this streak to continue. Toronto I feel won't have an answer for the quick and slashing backcourt and stopping Tim Duncan is basically impossible. How Bruce Bowen defends Vince Carter could well decide the game. You also have to factor in bench points, Toronto have had some success with their bench this year and we all know how strong the Spurs bench is, offensively and defensively. Spurs by 9
Lamond Murray, Chris Bosh and Rafer Alston owned the Spurs in the 4th. Booya what a comeback! Best in franchise history and we didn't need Vince or Jalen.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AirJordan:</div><div class="quote_post">Lamond Murray, Chris Bosh and Rafer Alston owned the Spurs in the 4th. Booya what a comeback! Best in franchise history and we didn't need Vince or Jalen.</div> how could of SAS let it go that way damn excellent display by alston, toronto showed just how good they are without carter's act he shot just 4 points in 24 minutes...damn still can't beleive the comback! 33-9 it was actually 19 points deficit in the end of the third!
This game proves that the Spurs can't keep looking down on teams when they have a huge lead. For a team like S.A to give up a 19 point lead against Toronto is down to slacking off and thinking the game is won, I thought they of stopped doing that after 2002 but I guess not.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Guard Vince Carter the Raptors best player and will need to be contained by Bowen </div> I, along with many other Raptor fans, don't consider Vince the Raptors best player. He is capable of being the best player, but he isn't. The best player overall on the Raptors is Rafer Alston. He is, right now, the heart and soul of this team. Kudos to the Raptors for pulling this one out and I just hope we can ship that "franchise player" out of here ASAP. He is a cancer to this team. Though I don't want to lose Rose, it seems like we are and play better off without both of them, especially Carter.
